Clara Martin Gets New President

In 1976, Arnold Spahn first joined the board of the Clara Martin Center, the White River Valley’s mental health agency. Since then, he’s served as treasurer and on multiple committees, but most notably, as the longstanding board president.

“I’ve always been astonished when my name comes up on the nominating committee for president. You’d think that after I’d been on the board that long, they might want to go to a newer personality,” Spahn said. “But they were perfectly happy to [keep] me on the board.”

According to Melanie Gidney, the CMC’s executive director, the board and staff at CMC were far more than “perfectly happy” with Spahn’s leadership.

“Arny really saw the agency through … decades of change in a field that’s really continued to evolve and change and grow to meet the community needs,” Gidney said. “He has really been such a steward of a strong board made up of community representatives to really make this organization as strong as it is today.”

All positions on the board are filled on a volunteer basis. According to Gidney, responsibilities include budget and policy oversight, making sure CMC stays in line with its mission, setting strategic plans, and overseeing the community needs survey that’s conducted every three years.

Spahn said he’s seen the general attitude towards mental health treatment change during his time on the board.

“There has been some relaxation on the stigma involved in mental health,” he said.

Gidney noted that Spahn’s personality has played to his advantage when it comes to keeping up with changes in the mental health world.

“He’s adaptable, he’s flexible,” she said. “I feel like he has the long-term view in mind, and doesn’t necessarily get caught up in the detail, but kind of, “Where do we want to be as an agency to meet those needs?” Beginning at the January board meeting, Page Spiess will be taking the helm as president. However, Spahn isn’t leaving altogether—he plans to remain on the board and act as a mentor to Spiess during the transition.

“The board is supportive of what I’ve done,” he said. “They like the idea that we’ll have somebody else coming in and we’ll all be able to communicate together.”

Spiess, a faculty member and director of the Public Health Department at Norwich University, became a member of the CMC board in 2021. Spiess’s professional work actually centers mostly around the aspects of public health that involve chemistry and environmental science, but she said that joining the board allowed her to engage with another aspect of public health that she believes is important to the community. “I’m excited to take on a new leadership role outside of my normal day job,” Spiess said. “It’s going to take some additional time, anytime we do volunteer work, it’s time you don’t get to do personal fun stuff. But for me, this is fun, this is essential, and I will never stop giving back to my community no matter where I live.”

Spiess said that Spahn’s continued presence on the board is a key part of making the transition smooth and successful.

“He definitely is a mentor. He offered, and I would not have taken this position without having a mentor,” Spiess said.

“Arny started as a board member in 1976, therefore his institutional knowledge about Clara Martin Center, the expansions it has undergone since that time, is absolutely essential for the next board leader to rely on,” she said. “Without that institutional knowledge, without that historical perspective, we won’t understand the changes that are needed going forward.”

Now that Spahn will have a little extra time, one thing he’s looking forward to is putting in more time in his wood shop, as well as continuing as a member of the Rotary club and joining in gatherings at the independent living community where he and his wife reside. And Spahn has no doubts that CMC will continue to thrive.

“We’ve got a tremendous group leading the Clara Martin Center,” he said. “Everything I hear coming from outside says that our agency is one of the leaders in mental health services here in the state, and that just tickles me.”

From: https://www.ourherald.com/articles/clara-martin-gets-new-president/